A Cruel World
by kingxana0
Summary: <html><head></head>Emerald is a master thief, a person who has survived thanks to her skills and ability to detach from the world. But what happens when someone draws her in with kindness and shows her a different path? And with a new evil threatening the world, can she really deal with her changing emotions and the chaos that is soon to come?</html>
1. Chapter 1

It was always the same nightmare. A Faunus who ran a bookstore, a person who only wanted to create a future where his family wasn't looked down upon by everyone else for being a different race, a man who had gotten too far into something he couldn't condone. He had tried to run, but they had gone to his bookstore and executed him.

Emerald wasn't new to the sight of blood; living on the streets before Cinder had found both her and Mercury had made it so it wasn't even that shocking. Hell taking the wallet off of his body had just been a gut reaction for her. But inside of the wallet was a sight that froze her blood cold. Inside of the wallet was a small photo of the man, his wife, and a little boy ridding on his shoulders, all smiling into a camera. She had taken the money and tossed the wallet away, feeling as if any moment she might be sick.

Mercury said something that didn't quite connect with Emerald, and soon the two of them were walking out of the store. The dead body, the smiling face, both one and the same. They haunted her dreams for the past few weeks. She had done her best to be the same person that Cinder needed her to be, but the pain in her heart wouldn't allow her to bury the memory.

Emerald woke up with a start and looked around the pitch black room. Mercury was calmly asleep on his bed with a smile, probably dreaming about fighting. Cinder slept in a meditative position, her legs crossed on the bed and her hands calmly resting on her knees. With a sigh Emerald stood up and quietly made her exit from the room, not feeling like sleeping after reliving the nightmare again.

She found herself wandering the halls for a while, knowing that most of the other students in the school would be asleep by this point. After wandering for a bit she found herself walking up a flight of stairs, deciding that she needed some fresh air and that the rooftops would be the best place to get it. However when she made it to the roofs she found that it was already occupied. She prepared to leave but paused when suddenly she heard something. The person out on the roof was…singing.

Emerald paused by the door and listened to the person sing, wrapped up in the rhythm of the song. She didn't know the name of the song, but it was something to do with a soldier coming home to find rest and a warm fire. The words stirred a feeling that Emerald hadn't felt in quite some time, peace. The song made her feel peaceful.

When the song ended she was unsure what to do with herself. She had just been spying on the guy, maybe it would be best if she just turned around and left.

"You don't have to stand at the door you know, it's a big roof". The figure turned around to look at her with a warm smile. The other person on the roof was a bit taller than Mercury, and sported a head full of blonde hair.

"Oh…" Emerald cursed herself under her breath for getting caught. Some master thief she was if she couldn't even spy on some random guy on the roof when he was busy singing. "Uh, sorry about that."

"Heh, I should be the one apologizing for blowing out your ear drums with my singing," he scratched the back of his head with a smile. "I used to do it for my baby sister back when I was a kid; it was the only thing that would get her to stop crying when there was a storm outside."

"I see." Emerald was still unsure how to respond to this. She was more used to people trying to attack her than trying to strike up casual conversation. The only person she really ever talked to was Mercury, and they spent most of their conversations mocking each other. Something told her that wasn't how most normal people interacted.

There was a moment of awkward silence before the boy spoke up again. "So my names Jaune, you're Emerald right?"

"How do you know that?" she asked, reaching behind her for the hidden weapon on the back of her uniform, body tensed and ready to attack.

"We have a class together, I sit right behind you," he pointed out with a grin. "Man, I thought I was bad at noticing stuff."

Emerald relaxed a bit and moved her hand away from the weapon, stepping out onto the roof. "What was that song you were singing?" she asked.

"Oh uh…" he laughed a bit and his cheeks reddened. "It doesn't really have a name; I just kind of…made it up."

"That's rather impressive," Emerald walked over to the edge of the roof and looked out toward the glowing tower. "So why are you up here, shouldn't you be asleep?"

Jaune sighed a bit. "Probably, but my team are all on a special training mission out in the forest, and I don't exactly have the skills to be with them," he laughed lightly. "I grew up with seven sisters, so it's weird to just sleep without hearing the sound of other people around you."

"I suppose I can see that," Emerald let out a sigh. "I grew up in a pretty big city, so all this peace and quiet drives me a bit nuts."

"Yeah, nothing more annoying than peace and quiet." Jaune said with a smirk on his face, causing the two of them to laugh a bit.

"Well, at least you can see the stars out here." Emerald said, looking up toward the bright twinkles in the sky.

"Yeah, when I was a kid I used to make up shapes I saw out in the stars," he pointed up toward the sky. "Like right there, it totally looks like a bear doesn't it?"

Emerald followed his finger and squinted up toward the cluster. "Hm… looks more like a boar to me."

"What?" Jaune walked over and looked up at the point. "No way that is totally a bear!"

"Only a blind person would think that it was a bear, it looks way more like a boar," Emerald shook her head. "Look there is the tusks right there." she pointed out some of the stars.

"No way, there are totally the bear's arms." Jaune pointed toward the cluster and another one a bit away.

The two bickered about what stars looked like what animals for another thirty minutes before they both finally agreed that one sort of looked like a bird and decided to call a truce.

Jaune let out a yawn and rubbed at his eyes. "Man I am beat," he smiled toward Emerald. "It was really nice getting to meet you." He offered his fist to her.

Emerald tensed for a moment thinking that he was going to attack, but after realizing he wasn't trying to act in such a manner she sighed and pressed her fist against his own. "Likewise I suppose."

Jaune turned around to leave but stopped at the door. "Hey, we should meet up again, I mean if neither of us can sleep then it's better to not be sleeping together right?"

Emerald raised an eyebrow. "That sentence has so many ways it can be taken wrong it's hard to even imagine counting them all."

Jaune's face lit up bright red and he quickly waved his hands in front of himself. "Hey, no I didn't mean it like that or anything."

Emerald laughed into her hand and a sudden feeling of confusion came over her. She was here to be a spy, not get all buddy buddy with some random guy. But he was right, there was no point in wandering the halls by herself if she wasn't going to be sleeping. Maybe she could even learn some valuable information off the guy. "Sure, why not?"

A bright smile came to his face and he sent a wave her way. "Awesome, catch up with you later then." he left the roof with a yawn.

The young woman stayed out for a while, enjoying the breeze before turning around and letting out a small yawn. Being able to talk to someone like a normal person had been nice. But she knew it wouldn't be something that could be enjoyed for along. After all she had her marching orders and the world would never pause long enough for her to find the kind of peace that came with friends.

She walked back to her room and laid down on her bed, closing her eyes and fully expecting to see the haunting face of a dead Faunus, but instead all she could see was a blonde man singing a lullaby that he had made up, and for the first time in quite some time Emerald fell asleep peacefully, with a small smile on her face.

* * *

><p>High above the clouds a black airship sailed through the night, cutting through the skys like a blade as it moved forward. Inside of the airship rested ten figures, all wearing heavy black armor that covered every inch of their bodies, and carrying large weapons next to them, ranging from claymores to miniguns, and even one flamethrower.<p>

Standing in the center of these ten figures was a unnatural tall and skinny man. His body was covered by a long black trench coat, his hands by a pair of white gloves, and a long circular fedora covered most of his head and face. His head was lowered toward the ground, speaking in a hushed tone to himself.

"Sir," another person entered the room, wearing a pilots headgear and a black uniform with no markings on it. He gave a quick salute to the standing figure. "We are ten minutes from our destination."

The figure didn't respond for a moment, but slowly lifted his head to look at the pilot. His eyes were covered by a pair of red glasses, but it was plain to see that the man was wrong. His skin was deathly pale, as if there were no blood flowing under it. His hair was white as snow and hung limply from under his hat. The man smiled and clapped his hands together. "Wonderful, continue on course, I shall rouse the troops from their slumber." much like his body the man's voice held a quality of wrongness to it, almost like one might imagine the voice of a snake might sound like before it lashed out toward its prey.

"Sir yes sir!" another salute and the pilot exited the room with a bit of haste to his step.

The man drew in a deep breath and clapped his hands. "Rise and shine now" the man called out toward the ten armored figures in the room. "It's time to do our duty," the armored figures were suddenly roused from their sleep, glowing red eyes shining from their helms. "Preach the word of our Gods to the world and sing a delightful funeral dirge in worship."

"Amen." cold and inhuman voices came from the armored figures as they slowly rose from their seats, bringing their weapons into their hands.

"Tell me you ten armored battle priests, what is it that you wish to do?" the man asked with a smile.

"To slaughter, to spill blood, to watch the light flicker away!" each armored figure spoke in a chant. "To worship our Gods with death!"

"I see, and shall you sing a hymn in your worship?" the man asked, his smile only growing wider as he spoke, revealing a row of white teeth.

"Our hymn shall be our weapons striking our enemies, our hymn shall be their bodies falling to the ground, our hymn shall be death and carnage!" the unnatural voices rose only higher as they continued the chant.

"I see, then let us go and spread the word of our Gods." The man snapped his fingers and a door on the side of the airship opened, letting in a rush of cold air.

"Yes, your Holiness!" each armored figure lined up at the door.

The man moved forward and looked out, seeing the clouds beneath them. They were now directly over a large fort built into the side of a mountain, once a stronghold of humanity against the Grimm, now a base for the White Fang, out of the way enough to avoid Grimm and all but forgotten by humanity. A perfect hiding place for the organization.

"Then sons and daughters of Blackout, amen!" the man jumped out of the ship and laughed as gravity took him down.

This was going to be fun.

* * *

><p>A new story, so much to do. I will be doing this more serious piece and also working on my comedy fanfics at the same time. Hope you guys enjoy and see you next chapter.<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

When people thought of the White Fang most assumed that the organization was composed of the best and brightest that the Faunus could pull from, made up of hardened soldiers who were ready to kill any humans who got in the way of their goal of a world run by Faunus.

This was what the White Fang wanted people to think. It was much easier to perform their attacks and raids if the enemy was assuming that everyone had a good idea of what they were doing. In truth a terrorist organization didn't always have the first pick when it came to able minded recruits. A lot of their number was composed of disillusioned youth, crazy people, or disillusioned youth who happened to also be crazy people. They were thankfully calm heads at the helm of the organization that stopped them from blowing up every time they received a new toy, but the amount of competence to incompetence was still a frightening thing to see.

"Do you ever wonder why we are here?" one of the guards asked another as they looked down from the walls of the mountain fortress. The fortress had been set up with a large wall protecting a fort built up against a mountain, allowing a naturally defense. A number of battlements rose from the corners of the walls.

Given how out of the way it was out of the way the place was staffed by mostly new recruits and the lowest ranking general of the White Fang. Through a few days ago a rather high ranking soldier had arrived on base to look over everything.

"Oh my God I don't care." The other Faunus replied with a growl. "It's always the same thing day after day. 'Why do you think we are here', 'what flavor are clouds', 'do you think Grimm can see color'. I don't care!" the Faunus put his hands on his head.

"Jeesh sorry" the first Faunus scratched the back of his head. "I am just bored you know?"

Before the other Faunus could respond a human figure fell from the sky directly between them, landing with a harsh crunch as the bones in the persons legs was shattered by the impact of the landing. The rest of his body seemed to crumple as well.

The two Faunus guards turned to look at each other with shock. "Uh…"

Just as suddenly as the body had landed it began to slowly rise up. Each movement it made was punctuated by a series of loud pops and cracks as the bones within its body reset themselves and fell back into place. When all was said and done the figure gave the two a smile. "Hello young ones, would you be interested in hearing the word of the Gods today?"

The two guards blinked and turned to each other. "Uh, is their protocol in place for dealing with preachers falling from the sky?"

"I uh…I would need to look the instruction guide over again." the other replied.

The man coughed into his hand. "Or perhaps a hymn would be more prudent," the man drew in a deep breath and a storm of bullets rained down from the sky, killing the two guards and leaving their corpses laying in ever expanding pools of their own blood. "Amen." The man said with a smile and a small bow.

Two black armored figures landed next to him, their impacts dulled by the parachutes on their backs. The parachutes detached from their armored backs and fell quietly behind the walls. "Our brothers and sisters have begun to cleanse the area High Priest Reaver, what are our orders?"

Reaver gave the two armored figures a wide smile. "Do as you please, kill all in our way. Be they young or old…"

"Soldier or civilian…" one spoke after.

"All shall feel the merciful end." The second armored figure completed.

"Amen" Reaver pulled a knife out from under his coat and stepped to the edge of the wall. "I will make sure our target doesn't escape. You two have fun." They both have the man a salute and he leapt from the wall, sliding down it toward the ground, disappearing into the darkness as screams of pain rang out from around the base.

The attack had begun.

* * *

><p>It wasn't a closely guarded secret that Adam Taurus hated politicians. After all it was the incompetent idiots in charge that normally screwed everything that the hard working soldiers worked for up. So when his latest mission had involved him being sent to the mountain base to play bodyguard to a mouse Faunus who didn't even look like he had ever used a weapons before it was fair to say that he was slightly angry. Not that one could tell by looking at him, as always his expression and body language were a careful neutral. If he walked around with all of his emotions on his sleeve then it would most likely send people running.<p>

"…and then my grandmother said that she had never seen such a finely balanced accounts sheet before in her… Adam are you listening?" the commander of the base asked with a glare. Despite his inexperience on the battlefield his family was known for being quite wealthy and being big supporters of the White Fang, ensuring him a position and title, even if they were mostly for show.

"Of course sir" Adam replied automatically and without emotion. He wanted to be out on the battlefield right now, fighting on the front lines against the oppressors and cutting down all those who sought human sovereignty over the Faunus. His talents were being wasted.

Suddenly the radio on the commander's desk went off. "Sir we are under attack by a group of unknown enemies. We have been able to count ten so far, each equipped with high powered weaponry and wearing armor that our weapons can't hit, how do we respond?"

The commander rolled his eyes. "Come now that isn't a funny joke you know, why would this place ever be attacked?"

"Sir I am not…oh God please no!" a sudden explosion cut off the other end of the call, rending a sudden silence throughout the room.

"W...w…we are under attack!" the commander shouted, sounding as if he were only a few moments from needing a change of pants.

Despite the situation Adam felt a grin come to his face. He detested the idea of his comrades being killed, but his natural bloodlust brought forth feelings of excitement for the fight ahead. "I am heading out to eliminate the enemy" he said, starting to move forward.

"Stop!" the commander ordered, causing Adam to pause and turn to him. "You must stay here to protect me, those are your orders." His voice was shaking like a leaf; it was obvious that he was scared for his life.

"You would rather I let our people die?" Adam asked, grinding his teeth. "Not only that, but we have civilians on base, and we don't know it these people will take mercy on them."

"But…I…I don't want to die" the commander whispered.

Before either could react a knife suddenly flew straight toward the commander from the now open doorway, lodging itself into his throat. "Hm, barely a whisper, an utterly pathetic dirge," standing at the now open door was Reaver, a small frown on his face. "Sad…no pathetic" he shook his head and turned toward Adam.

Adam froze at the sight of the man, taking in his shape and figure and realizing something, he knew who this person was. "You." His voice was cold was a winter night, and his fist was clenched tightly on the handle of his sword, his entire body shaking.

"Oh you know me" Reaver clapped his hands and smiled warmly toward Adam. "So tell me, did I save your family while working as a mercenary for the kingdoms?" he patted down his jacket. "And look at me without any pens or papers for an autograph, really careless of me."

Adam pulled out his blade and converted the sheath into its shotgun form, firing a shot directly at Reaver with a scowl on his face.

Reaver quickly put out his hand, summoning a small shield made of his Aura in order to block the shot. "Oh, I killed your family and now you want to kill me," he nodded a bit and gave a small shrug. "I get those two mixed up more often than one might expect given my track record."

"I am going to kill you and burn your corpse" Adam said harshly, getting ready to strike at the other man.

"Aw yes, you could do that," Reaver said, not sounding worried in the least. For a moment he looked over Adam and a strange expression crossed his face. But just as quickly as it appeared it disappeared. "But by the time we got done fighting my people will have already found where you are hiding all of your civilians and killed them dead,"

Adam's grip on his blade tightened as he glared toward the man, thoughts racing through his mind. He finally had this bastard in front of him, a chance to make him pay for all of the pain he had caused. But the idea of innocent Faunus being cut down made his resolve waver.

"Oh, and also," Reaver grinned and pulled out a knife, sending it flying toward Adam with speed and precision that didn't seem possible, causing the blade to burry itself deeply into the shoulder aiming his gun at him. "Fighting with a wounded arm probably wouldn't be a good idea sport."

Adam bit down to prevent any sounds of pain from escaping his mouth. The blade Reaver had used was sharp enough to pierce past his jacket, which was infused with Dust to harden it, and was making it very difficult to hold his sheath. He could still fight, but not in time to get out and protect the civilians. With a curse he turned around and jumped through the window, falling about thirty feet and landing with a roll and a curse.

Adam quickly made his way through the base, noticing just how quiet it had become. Normally the sounds of patrols moving around or soldiers talking reverberated throughout the outpost, but at the moment it was silent as could be. After running for a minute he came across a sight that made him clench his teeth in pure anger. The bodies of the guards were being piled up by two large figures in pitch black armor. One carried a small minigun connecting to a large backpack, most likely holding the ammo for the weapon. The other carried a flamethrower which it was using to torch the bodies, some of which were still twitching.

With a roar of anger Adam launched himself at the two, forgetting about his mission in blind rage as he charged them. He cleared the distance between them in a matter of moments, using his good hand to slash the armored figure. However his blade bounced off the armored figure with a loud clang. Adam was forced to retreat as the minigun wielding figure opened fire at him, chewing up the ground with hundreds of rounds while attempting to hit Adam. His sword was one of the sharpest weapons ever produced; it could cut through metal like paper and flesh like wet paper. The fact their armor hadn't even been scratched sent a cold feeling through the normally hot headed terrorist.

The figure with the flamethrower stepped forward and released a torrent of fire straight at Adam, which gave him an idea. He quickly turned and held his blade in front of him, closing his eyes under his mask so he could focus. Adam had the ability to absorb energy to enhance his attacks or give his body a temporary boost. It was quite a bit easier to absorb energy when it was fired in a beam or something of the like, but the fire was most likely Dust based, and so long as he held focus he could use it.

The fire began to compress and flow around Adam's blade, filling the Faunus with energy. It only took a few moments for the flamethrower armed person to notice the attack was doing nothing and cut off the power, but that had given Adam more than enough time. "Enjoy hell!" Adam compressed all of the energy he gathered into his blade and slashed toward the figure with the minigun, the slash containing enough power that it even left a scar in the stone of the walls a few feet away from them. Adam drew in a few breaths and looked toward the figure, who was now missing one of its arms. His slash had been aimed for the joints of the armor, and it appeared to have done its job.

However to Adam's horror the black armored figure didn't fall, didn't even seem to react to the wound he had delivered on it. The figure simply moved forward to strike at Adam with its good arm, a blow Adam deflected before doing something he detested.

He turned and ran.

There was no point fighting an enemy he couldn't beat, at least that's what he told himself between his mental curses aimed at him. Never before had he felt so weak and helpless as he did in that moment. It took a few minutes for the Faunus to find the civilians in the hidden bunker at the edge of the keep and get them to the escape ship, which he was able to pilot away from the keep. His eyes glanced down toward it and a familiar flame of anger rose in him.

They were going to pay, whoever they were.

* * *

><p>Reaver came out of the main building to the smell of roasting bodies as all ten of the armored figures surrounded a large flame filled with the bodies of White Fang soldiers. "And look at me without my marshmallows" he laughed loudly at his own joke, a piercing sound in the otherwise silent night. His laughter stopped as a rather upbeat and catch pop song came from his pocket, signaling a call from his employer. He pulled out the scroll and opened it, starting the call. "The mission is complete." He said with a grin.<p>

"Excellent" the voice on the other end of the call was heavily synthesized. "How did the beta test for the new armor go?"

"The priest's armor was able to withstand everything that they hit it with, although one of them lost it arm, so it appears the joints are still an issue with the design." Reaver lifted his scroll and pointed it toward the armored figure who was missing an arm.

"I see well if that is the only issue we should be ready to enter into mass production stage for our Black Arm Priests. Did you manage to acquire the object?" the voice asked.

Reaver reached into his coat and pulled out a small black orb, one about the size of a fist, tossing it up and down. "Yeah, seems the White Fang didn't know of its importance, it was just stored with the rest of the stuff from the old base."

"Hm, good news on that front then. Do you have anything else to report Reaver?"

"Actually yes," his expression darkened and his voice lost its playful quality. "Why didn't you tell me they had a Kingfisher at this base?"

"A Kingfisher?" the voice asked. "We looked over the reports for all of the people within the base, as far as we knew there wasn't a single person that fell under eligibility to be a Kingfisher."

"Red haired Faunus, serious anger issues, used a sword with a sheath that becomes a gun" Reaver explained.

The voice was silent for a moment. "Oh yes, Adam Taurus was moved to the base a few days ago, to look over its defenses and make sure everything was still running. As he has shown no signs of awakening his abilities as a Kingfisher it didn't seem important to inform you of it."

Reaver scowled darkly. "Now you listen here…" a sudden high pitch noise rang out from his scroll sending Reaver to the floor while screaming in agony.

"No Mr. Revival you listen to us, and if you don't we will destroy you. The nature of our contract states that any attempt to question orders will be met with punishment. You are not an equal in this, you are a pawn. You would do well to remember that." The noise cut out and Reaver stood, picking up the fallen Scroll.

"Yes, I live to serve" he said, his words lacking even the barest hint of sarcasm. "So what's the next step in this little plan of ours?"

"The Beta testers will be returning to base so that we can collect data from their fights, you however will have a special mission, one that we think you will enjoy quite a bit." The voice said.

"Oh?" Reaver asked with an upturned eyebrow. "And what might that be?"

"As we move toward the next step Blackout will require additional manpower for future missions. We need you to collect the following three people" a message appeared on the Scroll.

Reaver opened it and read the list, a wide grin coming to his face. "Oh…oh yes." He ran his tongue along his lips. "We are getting the band back together!"

"I suppose so, you have your orders Reaver, see that they are followed." The call ended and the airship that had brought them here finally descended to the ground.

Reaver turned toward the ten figures and tipped his hat. "You have done well today priests, return home and rest until lit comes time to spread the word of our Gods once more"

"Yes, your holiness!" all ten figures turned and made their way into the ship. Reaver made his way toward the top of the wall and looked down the mountain.

"Time for the fun to begin" he laughed loudly and jumped from the wall and into the waiting darkness bellow.

* * *

><p>Emerald awoke in her room with a small yawn and stretched out her body, trying to clear the fog from her mind. With a glance at the clock she noticed that it was about six thirty in the morning, meaning that Mercury and Cinder would already be out of the room. Cinder would be busy with her usual morning activity of mapping out the school and spying on a few of the students they had on their list. Mercury would be doing his early morning training, leaving Emerald free to use the shower and head toward the cafeteria of the school.<p>

Cinder and Mercury didn't partake in the food that the school had to offer. Cinder had a very strict diet and carried around her food in her luggage, and Mercury was sure the food was poisoned with something that would make him a good guy if he ate it, and so survived on the fruit that could be found in the forest during his day trips.

Emerald on the other hand didn't have their worries, and freely ate as much as she could while she could. Years of living on the streets had taught her that when there was good food around only a fool wouldn't take it. She quickly loaded up her plate with food and began to search for a place to sit, a practice that was only more difficult as time went on. Many groups formed together to sit around and talk, taking up space at the tables and making it difficult for a lone person to enjoy their meal without worrying about sticking out. As she began to search a certain voice called out to her, causing her to turn her head.

"Hey Emerald, over here!" Jaune waved to her from a table where he was sitting with four other people. Emerald had to try and remember who they were for a moment before recognizing the four people who had been putting Vale's under world through its paces as of late. Team RWBY as they were called.

Emerald moved over toward them. "Good morning" she said, keeping a careful and level voice. She didn't want Jaune to get any big ideas in his head about last night, they were still strangers and he didn't want her going all puppy dog on her. She had known countless guys who had gotten a look at her and 'fallen in love' trying to get into her pants without knowing a damn thing about her.

"Where is your team?" Jaune asked, looking around and trying to spot the other two members of her group.

"Busy." she answered with a tone that was rather cold.

"You should sit with us then" one of the girls called out. Long blonde hair and an outfit almost as revealing as Emerald's, she was Yang.

"Yeah, it would suck if you had to sit all by yourself" the girl next to Yang said in an rather excited voice. She must have been their leader, Ruby Rose. She was on the list Cinder had mentioned, and spying on her had become a bit of a mission for her master. If Emerald could get close to her Cinder would most likely be very pleased. That's what she told herself anyway, because she couldn't just want to sit with people and enjoy breakfast.

"I guess" she took a seat and glanced around to the five other figures and their meals.

Jaune was busy enjoying a bowl of cereal that couldn't possibly be healthy for him; especially due to the colors it was turning his milk. But he seemed to be enjoying it well enough.

Yang was enjoying a plate of eggs and bacon, eating it quickly as if she was racing against herself. Ruby was eating cookies, which seemed an odd choice in breakfast foods. A white haired girl who she pinned as Weiss Schnee was eating a bowl of plain oatmeal in a dignified manner, through with the glances she was making toward the others food it seemed she wasn't enjoying it. The final member of the team was simply nursing a cup of tea while reading from a book; she had to have been Blake.

Jaune chuckled a bit and looked at Emerald's food. "You going to be able to eat all of that?"

She blushed a bit and looked at her plate, which was practically overflowing with food. "While you know, enjoy it while you got it."

The five fell into easy conversation while they enjoyed their meals. Despite talking with them like this Emerald couldn't help but feel uneasy. They were all being too…nice. Anytime she talked with someone they always wanted something out of her, but now it appeared that all these people wanted to do was have some pleasant talk while enjoying their meals. It felt strange and alien to her.

"Hey Emerald, Remnant to Emerald" Jaune called out to her. "You there?"

Emerald blinked and realized that she had spaced out for a few minutes. She shook her head and looked to him. "Sorry, what?"

"I was saying it's almost time for class, since we share the first one do you want to walk there together?" Jaune asked a small blush on his face. "I mean since it's the same way and stuff." He added, not wanting her to get the wrong idea.

Emerald blinked at him in confusion for a moment. People back in her old city had come up and asked if she turned tricks with more confidence than Jaune showed asking her if she wanted to walk to class with him. For some reasons that brought a smile to her face, a smile she quickly suppressed before giving a nod. "Why not, it's on the way."

Before both of them could stand up another figure spoke up from behind him. "Well, look what we have here" a rather tall guy wearing with burnt orange crossed his arms and wearing a smug expression on his face. If memory served his name was Cardin something or other, someone so far under their radar they hadn't really even bothered making a file for him. "I see you are still hanging with the losers as always" he turned his eyes to her and smiled.

Emerald almost lost her breakfast at the look he was giving her, a look she had killed people for.

"Haven't seen you around cutie." He said with a smirk. "Come on why don't you ditch the losers and hang out with a real Hunter?" he gave a small flex to show himself off.

Emerald blinked and a cruel smile came to her face. "Oh well when you put it like that" she stood up and put a hand on his chest. "How could I ever resist?" she pushed forward and sent Cardin onto his ass. Once he was down Emerald pressed her foot against his chest and laid him flat, applying a bit of pressure to his stomach. "Look at me again and I will make the rest of your short life very unpleasant." Her words where cold as ice.

A few cheers from the cafeteria broke out and Jaune quickly got her out before a crowd could form. "That was awesome, but you might want to avoid picking fights"

Emerald shrugged a bit. "He was coming onto me; I just wanted to show him what the experience would have been like."

Jaune laughed at that and the two made their way toward the next class. "While can't blame you for that, you were awesome by the way, super intense."

Emerald felt her cheeks begin to light up at the compliment but quickly suppressed it. _What is wrong with me? _

The two talked and headed toward their next class. If anyone asked Emerald would have denied it, but she was wearing a smile the whole way.

* * *

><p><span><em><strong>Same as usual, I love each and every review I get, even if they are telling me I screwed something up. Favorites and Follows also warm my soul. Thanks to everyone for reading, and I hope to see you all next chapter.<strong>_


	3. Chapter 3

The Ravenloft Institute for the Mentally Unstable was one of the top most providers of mental care for the diseased of mind in all of Remnant. They took in all manner of cases, from those who were trapped in their own delusions to the more dangerously unhinged. The facility was known to treat all fairly, making sure that they could help, or at least make comfortable, all those under its roof. It was also far away from the city that it served, both to avoid break outs and to allow the patients a retreat from anything that might trigger violent episodes.

Within its walls however there was one patient who remained a mystery to most of the staff. A young woman who had been with them for almost ten years now. When she first arrived she had been raving about how she had lost all that mattered to her and that she simply wanted to disappear. After being given some food and water she had attacked the staff and been restrained for both her good and the good of the staff. After being restrained the young woman was much easier to speak to, though she would always ask to be set free of her bonds whenever she thought of it. The second she was let free she would attack any around her by any means available. Despite years of hard work and progress they still couldn't get her to reveal what her name was, or where she came from. But as she was a danger to others and herself she had a home at Ravenloft.

With that said the news of a family member of the patient's arriving was met with a rather large leap of joy to the staff. They had done the best they could with no information and the mental blocks in the patients mind and personality, a member of her family would be able to help in ways that they couldn't be described. When the family member had asked for a meeting with the patient the doctors had all hastily agreed, especially after he had given them information at detailed as a full description and even her blood type. Despite the man's odd appearance the doctors were more than happy to bring him into the communal meeting room with a number of other patients and their families.

Sitting at the center table was the patient, a young woman with long blonde hair, obviously unkept and long enough to block view of her eyes. Her body was gaunt and it was easy to tell even under the straightjacket that she was much thinner than one should be. She stood at an average height but slouched as she sat, giving the appearance that she was much smaller then she actually was. She appeared to be muttering something to herself, almost like a chant.

Reaver walked through the room, taking note that everything seemed designed with the express purpose of preventing a person from harming themselves or using something to harm others. He finally sat down at the chair across from her at the table and rested his chin on his hands. "Hello Scarlet, it really has been too long."

Scarlet's rambling finally stopped and she looked up toward the man. "Go away foul shadow; I will not have my mind poisoned by illusions any longer."

Reaver grinned and raised an eyebrow. "You believe me to be an illusion?"

"The world is an illusion, you are just a figment of my mind, a substitute for the hole left by the true disappearance of the one I love." she went back to mumbling to herself.

"What is the one thing that can never be faked?" Revear asked with a rather disturbing smile.

"The eyes, eyes are the windows to all there is," Scarlet looked up to Reaver and began to shake. "Are you saying?"

Reaver reached up and slowly pulled off his glasses, revealing his eyes to Scarlet. His eyes were pale grey, the same color as a stormy night out at sea. At the center of his eye was the pupil; however instead of a plain black dot it had a white plus in its center.

Scarlet's entire body suddenly tensed. "Y…you are here…you are…" tears began to run down her face as realization struck her. "I'm not alone, I'm not alone, I'm not alone."

Reaver stood up and wrapped his arms around the young woman in a gentle embrace. "That's right, I told you I wouldn't be long," After a moment Revear broke the embrace. "I have need of you once more my dear massacre."

Scarlet looked toward Reaver and a grin played about her face, revealing a number of pointed teeth within her mouth, as if each one had been filled down to a point. "I live to serve."

"Of course you do," Reaver reached into his coat and pulled out a knife, one which had been quite difficult to sneak past security. "Just like I trained you too." with one quick slash her neck was cut open, letting a spray of blood fly out of the wound. Scarlet fell back and let out a series of noises that were somewhere between a choke and a laugh. Her blood began to pool around her as the guards rushed into the room. But then something odd happened.

Instead of continuing to gush her wound simply stopped bleeding, and all of the blood that had come out began to slowly rise and cover her straightjacket. Where the blood touched the fabric began to dissolve, destroying the bonds and allowing her full freedom of movement. It slowly ate away at the sleeves of the jacket, leaving them so they only came to her wrists, revealing hands with long blade like fingernails. "I am so hungry, may I indulge myself?" Scarlet turned her head and grinned at Reaver, her hair slowly falling out of the way and revealing her own eyes, both red as spilled blood with the same symbol within her pupil as Reaver had in his.

"You may feast on the guards, leave the patients, our boss would love to get a new batch of recruits." Reaver sat down and pulled out a Scroll, opening a game on it and focusing in on it. "Now then do try to have fun; I am near beating my high score on this game."

Scarlet turned toward the guards with a hungry smile. "Yes, my Lord."

* * *

><p>"Oh thank God it's over." Jaune made a show of pulling himself out of Professor Port's classroom door and nearly collapsed for the sake of the act, but managed to straighten up at the last moment.<p>

"I will admit, I haven't heard a teacher quite so…verbose," Emerald rubbed her temples. "Honestly I don't think I have ever heard someone laugh so much as their own jokes."

"Why back when I was your age I hunted Nevermore's without a shirt and used them as weapons to fend off armies of Beowolves before lunch," Jaune said in his best Port impression. Both of them burst out laughing and Jaune shook his head. "So did you get signed up for the new class?"

Emerald pulled out her Scroll and opened up her message box, showing a single message from the Beacon staff telling her that she would be enrolled in a course known as 'Morals and Ethics in an Ever Expanding World'. "Yeah, sounds kind of weird."

"I think it's supposed to be for second years only, might be kind of cool," Jaune looked down and saw the time. "Crap my next class is on the other side of the school, catch you later?" he asked.

Emerald shook her head. "Hurry up; I am not going to take the fall because you were late to class."

Jaune gave her a grin and a wave before hurrying off in the other direction.

"How sweet, you got a pet nerd," Emerald nearly jumped out of her skin as Mercury's voice rang out from behind her.

Once Emerald got her heart back under control she turned and glared at Mercury. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing just that you seemed pretty comfortable chatting away with some random loser," Mercury shrugged a bit. "Seemed a bit odd and thought I might toss in a comment."

"Well next time don't think, it's not a good look on you." Emerald sneered toward Mercury. The two might have always had each other's backs, but today she couldn't stand the sight of him. It was probably just the lack of sleep making her irritable, or at least that's what she kept telling herself. She turned away and was ready to walk before Mercury put a hand on her shoulder.

"Okay that was out of line, I know you're loyal to Cinder and that was a bit of a dick move on my part," Mercury sighed and let go of her shoulder. "It's just that, well you know I hate this deep cover crap, and being around all this idiots is giving me a headache."

Emerald sighed a bit and gave Mercury a smile. "Yeah, whatever don't get all teary eyed on me wuss." her smile was mostly real, and for a moment she felt like herself again.

Mercury put his hands behind his head and started walking. "Whatever, let's get to class, I want to catch back up on this dream I was having." He began to go into detail about a dream where he had been fighting off an army of ninja.

Emerald nodded along but couldn't put her heart into it. She was off lately, the dreams, her emotions, everything just felt wrong. And the worst part was the feeling like that was only the tip of the iceberg.

* * *

><p>Reaver sighed and put down his game, obviously annoyed at it. "This game cheats," he blinked a bit to refocus his eyes and looked around the room and saw that it was now a mess. Tables had been upturned, dead bodies strewn about here and there. And right at the center was Scarlet, leaning over one of them and making slurping noises. "Are you quite done?" he asked.<p>

Scarlet stood up and stretched herself out with a happy sigh. "Yes master, it has just been so long since I got to eat and I was so hungry," she looked around the room. "Oops, I made a bit of a mess didn't I?"

Reaver shook his head and walked over, smacking the back of her head. "Hurry and clean it all up, we might be away from the city proper but that doesn't mean we are fully safe."

Scarlet nodded and closed her eyes, focusing on something. Within a few moments the blood left by her attack began to flow toward her, pooling at her feet before disappearing all together. The bodies that had been lying around crumbled into nothingness. "Still a bit hungry." she complained.

"Your stomach is a black hole, always has been," Reaver grunted and picked up a set of keys that had been left behind in the ashes of the dead. "This how we open this place up?"

"Yes sir, all doctors carry master keys around to unlock the cell doors, in case of an emergency they can get all of us spooky ones out without having to worry," Scarlet paused for a moment. "You said we were working for someone."

Reaver paused and for the first time since Scarlet could remember he did something odd. He frowned. "Yes."

"Someone we know?" Scarlet asked, trying to get some information out of her ever elusive master.

"New people, call themselves Blackout." Reaver kept his answers short and evasive, as if he didn't like talking about it.

"Money, power, fame, what are their aims?" Scarlet fell back on the time old tradition of rhyming, something that Reaver always used to get a kick out of back in the old days.

"Religious organization." Reaver sighed and launched into a full explanation.

When he finished Scarlet blinked and looked a bit fearful. "Wow, um… okay." She began to idly play with her hair, one of her few nervous ticks.

"I understand if you want to back out of this, one time offer. After that we go back to the usual arrangement." Reaver looked at Scarlet, waiting for an answer.

Scarlet drew in a deep breath and put on a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. "I serve as your loyal servant my master."

Reaver grinned wickedly and tipped his hat toward her. "Of course you do, now then I have crazy people to round up." when he finished speaking Reaver disappeared from the spot he had been standing, simply vanishing into nothingness.

Scarlet sighed and looked around at the various left behind clothing. "Might as well get dressed," a bright smile replaced her downtrodden look. "Oh that's a pretty dress." she leapt toward the fallen outfits, ready to take her pick.

* * *

><p>Hours passed as Jaune went from class to class, meeting up with friends between and talking with them. Without his team around he was forced to be more talkative with other people. Team RWBY was always a go too since they were pretty much a team of eight ever since the fight in the forest. Sun and Neptune where a blast to talk to most of the time, and it was cool to have some non-Ren guy friends to talk to, even if they could be a bit much at times. But honestly it was still weird hanging out with all of them, because in his mind they weren't really his friends.<p>

Sure he was friendly with them, and they chatted, but when it came down to it he probably wasn't on most of their top ten peoples list. Heck even when Ruby and him talked it was mostly just small chatter and stuff like that. It felt friendly sure, but he didn't know if he would go so far as to call them anything past acquaintances.

Of course he was still new to the whole people wanting to talk to him thing. It came with the territory of having a name famous enough in the small town to make people nervous about you and what you might be like. His best idea on how friends where came from his team. Pyrrha was basically his best friend, Ren was his best guy friend, and Nora was basically tied with Ren for the same position. Everyone else at Beacon was more absorbed with their own team or friends they knew from before they arrived. In truth as much as Jaune talked about meeting other people he only really ever talked to them when they seemed down and needed someone to talk to.

Except for Emerald. For the tenth time today his thoughts slipped back to the young woman he had met on the rooftop only one night ago. She had arrived with a bunch of other students, and he had remembered hanging out with Sun and Neptune as they kept an eye out for cute girls. She had been one of the people the three had noticed, but after seeing her pretty close to a guy they had written her off and went back to ogling the new arrivals.

When they had talked the night before she hadn't really mentioned her team that much, which didn't seem odd at the time but thinking on it made it seem stranger. Of course he hadn't really talked about him team either. He sighed and scratched his head. "I am really bad at this."

"Bad at what?" a familiar voice called out from behind him, causing Jaune to almost leap out of his skin. Ruby smiled and walked in step next to him.

"You need to wear a cat bell," Jaune said with a smirk. "Blake's training?"

Ruby scratched the back of her head and gave a playful grin. "Shows that much?"

"Just a bit," he said, giving her a small bump. "Anyway do you know anything about the class?"

Ruby shook her head. "Just that second years are the only ones that usually take it and the teacher is supposed to be really scary."

"Scary huh?" Jaune nearly jumped out of his skin again as Emerald spoke, standing on the other side of him.

"So anyone else want to randomly appear right next to me?" Jaune did a double take and sighed.

Emerald rolled her eyes. "He always this high strung?" she asked Ruby with a grin.

"Yep, it's funny as heck." Ruby chuckled as the three made their way into the classroom, taking seats next to each other.

Within the classroom where a number of different faces, most of which Jaune didn't know by name, or really by look. Beacon was a huge campus and it would have been a huge task to memorize everyone. The people that Jaune didn't notice didn't really surprise him through, all of team CRDL sat in a group and looked pretty bored while doing so, talking amongst themselves loud enough to be heard by others but not loud enough for someone to speak up against them. Cardin shot dirty looks toward Jaune and Emerald but didn't seem to want to start anything.

Jaune chuckled to himself, but paused when he noticed Emerald raising an eyebrow. "I can't tell which one of us he is glaring at, kind of refreshing to not be the object of hate."

Emerald rolled her eyes and smirked, looking toward the desk. The bell rang and each student waited patiently for the teacher to arrive. After a few minutes there were quiet whispers as the students wondered if there would even be someone showing up.

Suddenly the doors flew open as a woman walked into the room, carrying herself with purpose and emitting an aura of authority that rivaled that of even Professor Goodwitch. She wore a white lab coat over a black button up shirt, wearing a matching set of black pants. She had long red hair that she wore in a ponytail that reached her lower back. Everything about her screamed power, from the way she walked to the look in her eyes. When she finally reached the bottom of the stairs she moved behind the desk and looked toward the students. "Class," when she spoke the entire room tensed. Her voice was harsh, and the edge to it could be used to cut metal. "My name is Professor Hades; you will refer to me by this name at all times. Before anyone asks my first name is Ash, and the first person to use that name will find themselves with a first class ticket back to Vale."

She pulled out her Scroll and opened a three dimensional presentation above her that the whole class could see. "Beacon exists to turn people with great talent into Hunters. Port teaches you the essentials to how to hunt monsters, Oobleck teaches you the history of the world, Goodwitch teaches you how to fight, and so on and so forth" she looked toward the class, meeting every eye that dared not turn away. "I am here to take you one step beyond, it is my duty in life to turn you from idiot kids with destructive weapons into heroes, I will break you down bit by bit until I am assured that you have what it takes to become the Beacons of light this world needs, and if I can't mold you," she reached under her desk and pulled out a large revolver, firing it into the amphitheater, destroying a note that Dove had attempted to pass to Cardin. "Then I will throw you out with the rest of the trash," A wicked smile took residence on her face. "So then maggots you are all mine for the next month before the tournament, prepare for hell."

Emerald gulped and looked toward the teacher. This might be a problem.

* * *

><p>Reaver smiled and looked out toward the crowd of formerly locked away mental patients, tapping the microphone he had stolen from behind the curtain. The only room big enough to gather the group had been the lower security lunch room, which had apparently doubled as a multipurpose recreational room. "Greetings," He said, silencing the masses. "I am sure you are all wondering why you have been let out of your cells."<p>

The crowd began to mumble, but didn't let their tones rise, they didn't want to interrupt.

"You see I am what one might call a visionary. Where others see trash, I see art. When others see chaos, I see perfection. And when I see what other people call insanity I see what is truly there that they are too afraid to let themselves see. For it is only within your insanity that you can grasp the truth of this world" Reaver's voice rose and fell at all the right points, causing the crowd to whisper and murmur excitedly to his words. "Brothers and sisters, I know your pain, the pain of being an outcast, being feared for knowing the truth."

The crowd became more riled, raising their fists and cheering in time with him.

"To this point I offer you opportunity to let your truth be heard, to let the world know what it means to see truth. I come bearing with me the truth as handed down to us by the Gods themselves." The room silenced as he spoke, as if in awe. "The truth is that the order humans cling to is a lie, chaos is the natural state of life, darkness is the basic state of the world, humanities beacons of light stand as an affront to nature, an affront of the Gods!" Reaver slammed his fist down on the podium. "This affront cannot stand! It shall not!"

The crowd roared once more with the pale man, their cheers and the stomping of their feet causing the room to move in time with them.

"Those of you who are willing may join us, the Church of Blackout, and bring chaos into this world, no longer chained by the petty morality and lies that the world would have you cling to! The world would be yours!"

The doors to the room opened as black armored figured entered the room, looking much like the ones that had assaulted the White Fang fortress. On the chest plates of the armor sat the visage of an eye, wide and staring, a pure red color surrounding a pitch black pupil. "If you join you will become one of a legion of soldiers dedicated to spreading chaos and death, if that is your wish let it be known!"

The crowd cheered and yelled louder than ever, and causing a wide grin to appear on Reaver's face. "Outside is a waiting airship, ready to take you away to our main base, brothers and sisters go with the blessings of our Gods, and may your paths be clear."

The black armored figures herded the mental patients out of the room, leaving Reaver alone.

"Good speech master," Scarlet walked in when the last person had left, wearing a newly acquired skirt and a top that had been created by shredding her straight jacket into a more suitable outfit. "What shall we do now?"

Reaver stepped down from the stage and put his hands into the pockets of his jacket. "We need our brother and our sister."

Scarlet sighed and shook her head. "Must we call upon him, I would much rather we find a replacement."

Reaver gave the smaller woman a pat on the head. "Come now play nicely."

She sighed and huffed. "Of course master, by your command."

Reaver put a hand on her shoulder. "Good girl." the two blinked out of existence, leaving nothing but an empty room.

* * *

><p><span><em><strong>Another chapter out of the way. Have to admit this one took a bit to flesh out, but I am overall happy with the results. Through I am looking for Beta readers if anyone is interested. Even if not thanks for reading and hopefully the next chapter can be out soonish. Leave a follow, favorite, or even better a review if you enjoyed to let me know what you think of this story. <strong>_

_**If you can't wait to read more stuff by me then consider checking out some of my other work, such as.**_

_Team RWBY: Master Matchmakers/Wedding Planners- Comedy fics for all of your Arkos needs. I would say more but that would be spoilers._

_A Light in the Dark- What would happen if Cinder's team and RWBY's team switched places in canon? First few chapters build up to AU._

_Jaune's Bad Day- Jaune accidentally releases a cloud of Dust during a test that makes everyone female around him fall madly in love with him. Follow his adventures as he tries to escape the wrath of every women in Vale in this comedy fic._


	4. Chapter 4

"Honey we have visitors!" a woman's happy voice rang throughout a very nice but not all to big apartment. Some might say it was rather small for the best doctor in the entire city and his nurse/wife, but said doctor would just wave away the notion, saying that more space would just lead to clutter.

The doctor had moved to Mistral four years ago, and had instantly found himself hired by a failing hospital with little in the way of funds and more patients then employee's. He had just shown up offering his skills and within a matter of weeks patients found themselves walking out in better shape than ever. Quite a few people called him a miracle worker, but he would deny it having anything to do with miracles and just insist that anyone could reach his level with skill and time. In a matter of months the hospital was one of the best that could be found, taking special patients from all over the world. Within his first year there he had married his first assistant, a pleasant young woman with a bright smile and a good mind. It had actually caused a bit of an uproar when announced. Mistral was fond of its traditions, and a Faunus marrying a human was frowned upon. However it was hard to frown at someone who had probably saved the life of at least one person you knew.

"Really now?" the doctor smirked, taking a sip of a fresh cup of coffee and tapping a pencil against a crossword he had just gotten into. He was wearing a white lab coat over a black t-shirt with 'an apple a day keeps the me away' written in white lettering. A pair of black pants covered his lower half. The man turned his head, his unkept black hair moving a bit, his tail giving a swing and his ears focusing toward the front room. "The Andersons?"

The figures entered into the small kitchen area, followed by the doctors wife. "They said they were old friends of yours." His wife replied.

Revear took off his hat and gave a slight bow. In his left hand he held a large metal briefcase. Flanking him was Scarlet, dressed in a blue T-shirt with the words 'don't touch I bite' and faded blue jeans, a perfect class to the man next to her in his black trench coat and large hat. "The oldest, isn't that right Adrian Loveloss?"

The doctor froze in place, his cat like ears twitching on the top of his head. "Reaver Revival, back from the dead I see." He raised his mug to his lips and took a slow drink.

"You know me, just can't keep a good man down." Revear flashed a smile toward Adrian, making the doctors blood chill at its sight.

The doctor took a deep breath and smiled toward his wife. "I was going to head out to pick up the cake for tonights party, but with the guests here would you mind to terribly if…"

She put up a hand and chuckled. "It's fine, you enjoy your friends, but you have to tell me how you guys met when I get back." She crossed over and put a gentle kiss on Adrian's head before leaving.

Reaver sat down, followed by Scarlet. "Cute kid, didn't take you as the type for settling down through." He placed the large briefcase down on the table.

"Some of us actually enjoy human contact Reaver," Adrian sighed and pushed aside his coffee.

"And some of us age like normal people instead of cutting ourselves up to look like a twenty something forever." Scarlet mocked with a cheerful smile on her face.

"Coming from the Bloodwitch herself I find that hilarious. At least I can explain my youth, you don't even bother trying to find out." He growled deep in his throat.

"Children," Reaver sighed. "Must we do this every time we sit down for dinner?"

Scarlet crossed her arms and stuck her tongue out toward Adrian, who replied by scoffing and looking at Reaver. "You are supposed to be dead."

Reaver shrugged. "Didn't take."

"Having your head chopped off by an axe didn't take?" Adrian raised an eyebrow at that. "Something you aren't telling me?"

"Many things," Reaver admitted. "But I suppose it's not to important to tell you about that little detail, its part of why I am here anyway."

"Go on, it will take about an hour for her to get back." Adrian leaned back in his chair.

"Well I suppose I will start out with the part about me getting my head chopped off…"

* * *

><p>The entire room was tense as the teacher scanned through each student. "Can anyone here tell me what it means to be a Hunter?" a number of hands went up. "Put your hands down, you children don't know the meaning of the word." Professor Hades scowled as the hands slowly dropped. "Battle of Cathedral Peaks, thirty Hunters had been sent to rescue a group of Schnee company miners who had dug into a cave and released a large amount of sleeping Grimm, monstrous creatures that were twisted by their cramped resting place. Instead of growing outward, they grew inward and became more powerful beats in smaller bodies." A number of three dimensional images came up, showing the ruins of a mining cave. "I was part of those thirty Hunters, we had expected to find all of the members of the mining team within the evacuation zone. All we found were the mining supervisors, all of the miners had been left behind to try and protect them. It was either fight for their lives or die by the guns the supervisors had to defend themselves."<p>

Her voice grew even colder as she glanced toward each student. "Twenty five of the Hunters charged in to rescue the workers while the other five were forced to protect those monsters. About a third of the miners made it back, twenty of us died, three were injured to the point where we had to retire."

Jaune gulped and thought about that. He knew there was danger in being a Hunter, but the idea of risking his life and dying for something like that. It was hard to imagine.

Ruby had an equally disgusted look on her face. The fact that people could be that cruel and twisted played heavily on her mind. She knew from classes in Signal that there was always a chance you could die going in to battle, that didn't bother her. Dying for people who tossed away lives like candy wrappers through. It didn't feel right.

Emerald sat with a cold look on her face. She was used to cruelty before, and death count wasn't anything new with the plans that Cinder would eventually let loose. Yet a part of her was weighed down for a moment. But she couldn't begin to guess why.

"When we finally managed to evac from the area the supervisors began to complain about having to wait so long to get out. One of the survivors pulled a gun on him, he was a Faunus, nice guy whose parents had been working in that mine, and both died trying to defend people who would have killed them," she sighed. "We stopped him before he could pull the trigger, but I wish we hadn't been able to make it," Professor Hades looked toward each of them. "

Cardin leaned over and whispered something in Dove's ear, causing both to chuckle under their breaths.

Professor Hades smirked and turned toward them. "What was that Mr. Winchester?"

Cardin gulped and tried his best to look innocent. "I didn't say anything." he tried to keep his voice level, but it was obvious he wasn't exactly thrilled by the idea of catching the gun carrying teachers attention.

"Really, because I thought you might have said 'it's an animal's place to serve humans', at least that's what I heard," she paused for a moment, and when she spoke next her voice sounded different, more soothing. "Stand." She ordered.

Cardin's eyes glassed over and he suddenly got up out of his seat, looking confused at his own actions.

"Walk," Professor Hades watched as Cardin followed her order, walking down the steps and toward her. She grabbed the chair from behind the desk and put it in front of him. "Sit," Cardin's body began to shake as if he was trying to resist her order, but found that all he could do was take a seat in the chair. "Speak."

"I…uh…um…" Cardin tried to form a coherent sentence, but all that came from his lips was babbling.

"Whats wrong brat, cat got you tongue?" Professor Hades smile broke out into a mad grin. "You can't even do one of the most basic tricks an animal can, you call yourself better than them?" she put her foot against Cardin and knocked him off the chair, sending him straight to his back. "If you don't even register as an animal then I suppose I should label you as dirt." Her voice gained the same quality as it had when she gave the orders. "Look at him." The class all focused their eyes on Cardin. "People like him cause the death of others, each and everyone of you is at fault for the deaths that come to pass from your actions, think on the blood your words have spilled, of all that you have wrought with your actions"

As soon as the words were spoken each of the students began to breath more heavily, some even began to have tears run down their faces as memories of things they had done ran through their minds. Even the smallest of transgressions seemed to become the worst of sins in their minds at the Professors words.

Emerald began to gasp for breath and looked down at her hands, seeing them covered in blood, the face of a bookstore owner covered in blood in her vision, a wallet holding pictures of a family that would be without a father. Tears welled up in her eyes and slowly began to trailed down her face.

"People never change, trash like you should just die" her voice became cold but forceful.

"You are wrong!" two voices suddenly shouted from the students side of the class. Jaune and Ruby both looked to each other and nodded.

"Cardin might be a jerk, well there isn't a might he really is a jerk," Jaune shook his head. "Not the point. People can change, to say that we are just stuck as one person forever is wrong."

Ruby nodded. "Besides anyone who is here knows at some level what they are doing is dangerous, meaning that even in their own way they want to help others. There are easier ways to get famous then fighting monsters."

"I have seen people like him before, he can only think of himself. Are you saying I am wrong?" the Professor looked toward the two.

"Yes." Ruby said without a hint of doubt.

"I think Cardin is an ass, but I also think that people have the ability to grow and change, that's why they are worth protecting." Jaune answered.

Emerald looked up to the two and blinked in confusion. Either they somehow broke through what the teacher was doing or they both didn't have sins they weighed down on them enough for it to work. Both probabilities where interesting in their own rights.

For a moment the classroom was silent, but the teacher suddenly broke out laughing. The laugh didn't sound cold or cruel as her voice had sounded earlier, but this time lighter and happier. "Okay okay enough with the heroic speeches and stuff, get out of my class."

Ruby and Jaune looked to each other, wondering if they had just bought a one way ticket out of Beacon.

"Oh don't look so freaked out, that was a test," she smirked and waved for Cardin to return to his seat. "You two stood up against something that you could easily lose everything against for someone you obviously didn't like. I would happily call you two Hunters. Morals and Ethics is a class for people who need to get their heads on right, no point fixing what ain't broken."

Ruby nodded and got her bag, walking to the exit with a confused look on her face.

Jaune grabbed his own and put a hand on Emerald's shoulder with a smile. "Meet up tonight?" he whispered.

Emerald simply nodded and Jaune left.

"Now then." The Professor turned toward the class. "Let the breaking begin."

Emerald drew in a breath and prepared herself. This was going to be a long class.

* * *

><p>A young man sat on a knee with his head bowed before the charred ground in the center of what was once the White Fang's hidden base. It has been days and yet the place still smelled of fire and death. Those scents tended to linger longer than any other. Next to him stood a massive cross, at least five feet tall and made of pure silver with a small white gem at its center. The man was wearing a white robe which came down over most of his body, covering an equally white button up shirt and pants. His hair was short and silver as the cross, covering a blindfold that covered both of his eyes. A growl opened his eyes as a massive wolf stalked up behind him, fur grey and big enough to coming up about three feet high.<p>

"I know Fenrir, but all the same it's sad," The man stood up and sighed at the scorch marks. "So much pointless death."

The wolf growled and jerked its head toward the walls, which were quickly being lined with small Nevermore's, each watching the human and the wolf from their perches.

"They have the right to be here, this place smells of their home," the man chuckled and placed a hand on the gem of the massive metal cross. "All the same I haven't had the chance to 'walk' you lately," he pushed the gem and a long hilt came out from his cross. "So have fun."

From the top of the cross launched a massive blade out from it. The wolf jumped in the air and caught the grip in its sharp teeth. Once the sword was within its mouth Fenrir charged toward the wall, jumping and running along the stone structure until it reached the top, turning its head and slashing one of the smaller bird Grimm in half. The other Grimm gave out battle cries and charged the wolf, attempting to strike it with either beak of their blade like feathers. The wolf dodged expertly, and whenever one of the feathers came close to hitting him they were deflected by a shimmering blue energy.

The man smirked and shook his head. "Energetic as ever," a few of the Nevermore's began to circle around him from above. "Soulless beings, find rest." He put his hand under the cross and into a small harness, lifting it toward the sky at the Nevermore's above him. The bottom of the cross slid open, revealing a crosshair. From the bottom of the cross a massive beam of white energy shot forth, consuming the Nevermore's in flames that erased them from existence.

The wolf hopped down from the cliff, leaving the last Nevermore to slowly turn to ash. The wolf growled around the grip of the blade.

"Oh so suddenly you are the only one allowed to cut loose." The man placed the massive cross down.

The wolf jerked its head and tossed the blade high, making is so the swords blade landing on top of the cross and allowing it to slowly slide back in.

The man let out a sigh and shook his head. "We need to get word back to the others; if the Church is on the move then we are going to need all the firepower we can get."

The wolf blinked and gave a small but more pleased sounding growl.

"Yes that means we are going to get to see her again. What my singing not enough for you?" the man laughed and tapped the cross; summoning two straps from it so he could carry it on his back.

The wolf gave a small sneeze and shook its body before moving along with him.

"Now that's just mean."

* * *

><p>"And that's the long and short of it," Reaver said, taking a sip of the coffee. "Bah how do you not have actual sugar in your house?"<p>

Adrian raised an eyebrow. "Doctor remember, healthy things only," The Faunus drummed his fingers against the table. "So after telling me all that why are you here?"

Reaver smirked and put the briefcase down on the table, opening it and revealing a number of scattered papers. "Because I have need of your skills."

Adrian reached in and pulled out a few of the papers, his lips twisting upward in a grin. "Project Prometheus, an interesting little dance with the unknown, but it never went anywhere."

Scarlet chuckled daintily. "Oh so mister ultimate scientist couldn't figure out something, how shocking."

Adrian's eye twitched in annoyance. "I will have you know that the science behind it was solid, I simply hit the wall that all good scientists hit."

Reaver reached in and pulled out another file, placing it in front of the Faunus. "I think you will find that your hypothesis is a good bit more then that now."

Adrain scowled and grabbed the paper, looking over it. After a moment his gaze seemed to lose focus. "This is…mass production."

"The process works, but it isn't anywhere near perfect," Reaver crossed his legs. "We still need a special touch."

Adrian crossed his fingers and rested his chin atop his hands. "I have been out for quite a while, what's to stop me from attacking you both here and trying to stop this madness."

Reaver raised an eyebrow. "Grown a conscious?"

The two stared at each other for a few moments, the air in the room becoming tense before both men broke out laughing.

"You got good at acting while I was gone." Reaver wiped a single tear from his eyes.

"It's a living," Adrian stood up and gave a firm nod. "I'm in, if my theories are being put to use I want to see them in action," He pushed aside the papers and found something else at the bottom of the briefcase. "I almost forgot about these." He reached in and pulled out a set of armored gloves each with a syringe over a finger. He slid them on like gloves and clanked the metallic tips together.

"Honey I'm home~." Adrian's wife entered back into the house with the cake and paused at the kitchen entrance. "What's with those odd gloves?"

Adrian smiled warmly and walked toward her. "Nothing, but you know I have been running this experiment I feel like I should tell you about." He jabbed five of the syringes into his stomach, each drawing back from his body and filling with a black substance.

"A…Adrian…" she looked at her and slowly backed away, dropping the cake in her hands.

He stepped on it and suddenly leapt forward, plunging the syringes into her body and twisting his hand, causing each one to inject the liquid into her. "The experiment is this, does the dying look one gives their loved one filled with more confusion or sadness." He looked deep into her eyes and smirked. "Lets find out."

The woman attempted to speak, but no sound came out of her mouth. When she looked down she noticed that her veins were easy to see against her skin, pumping a black looking liquid throughout her body. Her body shook as she suddenly coughed hard. She fell to her knee's and coughed again, spewing out black liquid that sizzled on the floor.

"Right now your blood is being converted into my own, but without my Sembalance keeping me alive you are being devoured by it, slowly turned into nothing," Adrian watched with mad glee as her knees could no longer support her, causing her to fall flat. "That look in your eyes, your body being converted faster then normal, I forgot how good this feels." He put a hand against his face and began to laugh, a deep and rich laugh.

"Time to go then." Reaver stood up and picked up the briefcase, walking toward the door. "Doctor?"

Adrian turned his head and grinned, his silver blue and green eyes both shimmering for a moment before a solid white cross took hold in the center of his pupil. "Right, we are still missing one of our number."

Scarlet stood and walked over to the puddle of black ooze that had once been Adrian's wife. "You had a really lovely home." She bowed and walked toward Reaver.

"Small problem through, she is pretty much as dead as you are," Adrian tapped his chin with a syringe claw. "Well I suppose that's not really a problem anymore if what you told me is true."

"Not at all," Reaver grinned and pulled a black orb out of his pocket. "Besides, I always thought flowers looked better wilted."

* * *

><p>The rest of the day passed rather normally for Emerald. A few more classes came and went, but she only barely noticed. The Morals and Ethics class had put a serious strain on her mind, but she was doing her best not to show it.<p>

"Man the people here are such chumps," Mercury complained, shaking his head. "I have beaten down homeless people with more fighting ability then half of the guys in the sparing class today."

"Yeah you are great no need to brag." Emerald said, ignoring her partner as the two walked toward their room.

Mercury gave her an odd look but didn't pry. It wasn't in his nature to get all touchy feely with other people. "Anyway I am going to head toward the grounds and get a night run in. You going to get some shut eye?"

Emerald bit her lip before giving a single shake of her head. "No, I think I might go to the library, catch up on some reading. Have to make this student thing look good."

Mercury snorted and waved his hand. "Whatever, have fun with your books." He walked in the opposite direction and Emerald paused at their door for a moment, worried about what might be on the other side. With a quick turn she opened it and stepped within the threshold, seeing that no one was inside.

"Come on Emerald, get your head on straight." She tapped the side of her head and went inside, laying down on the bed for a moment and watching the clock. After enough time went by she made her exit and went toward the roof to meet with Jaune. When she got there she was greeted by the sight of Jaune practicing some of his sword moves. Nothing impressive, but he seemed to be about on level with some of the more medium skill fighters she had seen.

Jaune paused as soon as he saw Emerald and gave a wave. "Hey there," he gave her a grin. "Sorry I just wanted to get some extra practice in, never really been the best weapon fighter and without my partner here pushing me I need to keep up my skills."

Emerald raised an eyebrow. "Those were your best moves, thought you might be warming up for something impressive." Her voice was low and obviously joking; through she was curious over one point. "How did you get into Beacon without more advanced skills?"

Jaune laughed and scratched the back of his head, summoning the lie that he and Pyrrha had crafted. "My school focused more on tactical education, weapons were a second priority over strategy and stuff."

"Hm, never heard of a school that went that route." Emerald smirked and stretched out. "You know if you need a sparing partner I wouldn't mind going a couple of rounds with you."

"Really?" Jaune smiled wide. "That's awesome, Pyrrha is always telling me I need to branch out against other styles."

"Lets see what you can do" Emerald pulled out her pistols from behind her and let loose the blades.

The two fought for a bit, and Emerald found herself more and more surprised that he wasn't somehow managing to stab himself. He wasn't a beginner, but he was close to it. His style was basic and obvious, each movement screaming out exactly what he would do. She managed to knock him flat at least ten times, each one looking more painful then the last.

"Okay stop," Emerald crossed her arms. "Why aren't you using your Aura?"

Jaune pushed himself up and rubbed a newly formed bruise on his arms. "Well I am not really great at controlling it yet."

Emerald sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Okay priority one is getting you able to use it."

"Well I have been trying for months, I don't think its just that." He paused as Emerald raised her gun and fired directly at his head without a moments notice. He saw his life flash before his eyes before feeling a sharp pain on his forehead. "Hey what the heck?" Jaune asked.

"Your Aura will react naturally to dangers like that, focus and block the bullet before it gets close enough to sting" Emerald grinned. "I probably won't run out of bullets before you run out of spots on your head for me to hit, so better adapt."

Jaune frowned but nodded. Emerald seemed to know what she was doing, and he doubted Pyrrha would ever go with this method. Maybe she was holding back on him because they were friends, outside of the normal bruise or two she would make sure to temper all of her blows on him. "Right, lets do this."

The next hour was filled with pain for Jaune and amusement for Emerald. At first it seemed he was making no progress, and Emerald freely shot little images into his forehead with a grin. But about halfway through he was able to create his first solid and purposeful defense. Every time after that his Aura had only grown into a stronger shield, blocking the bullet or knocking it off course.

"Well looks like you got it down well enough" Emerald blew on her gun and put it back into its holster.

"Think so?" Jaune asked with a pant, obviously uncomfortable after having expended so much Aura.

"Yeah, keep practicing and you should be able to last half a second with a pre Beacon student." Emerald gave him a wry grin.

"Ha ha" Jaune rolled his eyes and fell back on the roof, looking up at the sky.

Emerald chuckled and went over to sit next to him, watching the clouds above them. "So you talk about your partner a lot, Pyrrha right?" she knew full well who she was, but Emerald had to play dumb.

"Yeah, she is kind of like this super popular person, I had no idea when I met her," he snorted. "Want to guess what the first thing I did when I met her was?"

"What?" Emerald asked.

"I hit on her." Jaune said with an embarrassed chuckle.

"No kidding?" Emerald's tone lost a bit of its joking quality for a moment. "Are you two a..you know…?"

Jaune's face turned red and he waved his hands in front of him. "No, I mean she is awesome and everything but we are just friends. Well I guess we are partners but not uh…yeah."

"I get it, no need to explain yourself." Emerald said, her voice happy. She didn't know why that hearing Jaune wasn't with Pyrrha made her happy, but it did.

"What about you and your partner?" Jaune asked, turning to look at her. "You guys seem pretty close."

"What Mercury?" Emerald shook her head. "Only in his dreams, guys like a brother to me."

The topics beyond that point trailed off into the mundane, talking about their classes and what kind of books they liked to read. It felt normal, which was alien for Emerald. She had spent so long talking about how to survive and fight that just talking about things that most people her age talked about felt wrong in a way. But at the same time talking to Jaune felt…easy. The guy was an open book and didn't bother to hide it.

"So hey got any plans for tomorrow?" Jaune suddenly asked.

Emerald shook her head. "No, I figured I might hit the library since we don't have classes."

Jaune frowned. "That sounds kind of dull, a bunch of people usually get together in the rec room and watch Saturday morning shows in our p.j.'s and have a big breakfast. I mean it's mostly cartoons and stuff but its still pretty fun."

Emerald chuckled. "Are you inviting me to watch cartoons in my pajama's like a kid?"

"That's the long and the short of it yes." Jaune said with a smile. "You in?"

Emerald thought for a moment. "Yeah, hell why not."

"Awesome!" Jaune got up and offered her a hand. "Its getting late, want me to walk you back to your room?"

Emerald thought for a moment before taking his hand and allowing herself to be pulled up. "No its fine, hey do you want to…you know meet up again tomorrow?"

Jaune nodded. "Yeah, I might be a bit late through, I am expecting a message from my team tomorrow and want to be there to catch it."

"Right, I understand." Emerald smiled and walked off. "See you tomorrow."

"Bright and early." Jaune waved as she left.

* * *

><p>"Interesting." Cinder said, watching Emerald leave with a pair of binoculars.<p>

"Should we stop it?" Mercury asked, standing next to her and leaning against a wall.

"No, I don't see the need," Cinder banished the binoculars in a wave of fire. "Besides it might be interesting, a Kingfisher of Lumien and a Kingfisher of Dust coming together. Who knows what will happen." she let out a short but cruel laugh and Mercury sighed, watching his partner walk away.

* * *

><p><strong><em><span>And on that note another chapter is out of the way. Leave a review to tell me what you think, a favorite to let me know you enjoy, and a follow to let me know you want more. Currently on the hunt for Beta-readers to bounce plot ideas off of and deal with my grammar. Anyway see you guys next time.<span>_**

_This Author has no connection with Roosterteeth or the writers of RWBY. Please support the official release. _

_For more by this Author please check out his profile._


	5. Chapter 5

Emerald awoke to the sound of the door to her team's room being knocked on. This was strange to her, as the only two people who came to this room had keys and didn't need to knock. With a grumble of annoyance she got out of bed and pulled open the door, eyes flaring with anger. "What?"

Standing outside of the door in a onesie with a cartoon rabbits head in the center of it was none other than Jaune Arc. "Hey Emerald, still up for…" he paused and looked at her for a moment before quickly turning his entire body around. "I…uh…sorry!"

"For what?" she asked confused, looking down at herself before coming to a realization that made it perfectly clear why Jaune had suddenly turned around. Emerald usually didn't go to sleep with a full outfit on, and when she had finally passed out in her bed she had done so in only her underwear, which Jaune had just managed to get the sight of. Emerald's face turned bright red and she closed the door quickly. "Stay out there, don't move!" she shouted, quickly making a bee line for the closet and throwing on some comfortable shorts and a shirt that went over most of her body. She pulled open the door and glared at her, as if it was his fault she had forgotten to check her outfit before sleep. "What?" she growled dangerously.

"Uh, cartoons remember, p.j.'s, snacks, uh…" Jaune's brain was still fried from the earlier situation, and he was doing his best not to look Emerald.

Emerald blinked and suddenly she remembered her earlier agreement to attend the childish event. She sighed and shook her head. "Okay let's just pretend that didn't happen."

"Pretend what happened?" Jaune asked with a small grin. "I don't remember anything happening, nothing at all."

"Don't be a smartass." Emerald nudged him in the ribs with her elbow and Jaune playfully winced, causing a smile to appear on her face.

The two made their way down the halls toward the common rooms, which gave them some time to talk. "So what's with the onesie?"

Jaune grinned and put his fist against his chest. "I am bringing it back into style, for too long the comfort and warmth provided by the onesie has been mocked, but no more!"

Emerald shook her head. "Pretty sure no matter what you do it will end up being mocked if you wear that.

The two shared a laugh at that and they finally entered into the common room, filled with a great number of Hunters and Huntresses talking and eating a variety of breakfast foods.

Ruby and her team waved them over. "Oh man I can't believe it, this is going to be the biggest episode ever and Nora isn't here to do the thing."

Jaune sighed and shook his head. "Yeah, Nora commentary is always a bonus during the big episodes…"

Yang bumped her fist against Ruby's head and sighed. "Get any message back from them?"

Jaune gave another shake of his head. "No, but with how far out they are the signal must be next to nothing."

Weiss looked up from her pancakes for a moment. "What was the nature of the mission anyway, it's still surprises me that you couldn't be there despite being their leader."

"An entire town went off the radar, with the festival coming up and Ironwood keeping most of the students at the base they could only send a few people out. Plus the mission is way above my combat score rating." He sighed, looking rather dejected about the whole situation; his earlier good mood brought crashing down by it.

Emerald gave a glance to the three and then Jaune, wondering what a normal person would do in this situation. She didn't like seeing that Jaune was in pain, but she didn't exactly know what she could do to help. "So cartoons right, what are we watching?"

The mention of the shows seemed to get Jaune's mind away from his worries as he and Ruby began to fill Emerald in on the various shows they would be watching while gathering small piles of food in front of them.

The shows started and Emerald vaguely recognized the characters from the comic Mercury had stolen from the bookstore. That thought made her shiver a bit, she might have been sleeping better but that didn't mean the memory wasn't still on her mind, especially after the class that she had been put into.

Jaune noticed the shiver and took a blanket he had around himself and offered it to her.

"I am not taking your blanket." She said under her breath to Jaune.

"But you were shivering," Jaune tried to reply, only to be shushed by a number of people watching the show on the holographic screen. For a moment Jaune didn't do anything, but suddenly he moved the blanket so it would be around both of them, a smile on his face as if he had just solved a difficult problem.

Emerald gave him a harsh glare but didn't struggle or argue. The blanket was warm, and being this close to him pulled her mind away from her own dark deeds. She brought herself closer to Jaune to get warm and focused on the show, ignoring the fact she was almost pressed against him.

From outside of the room Mercury grit his teeth with annoyance. "What are you doing?" he whispered under his breath.

There would be hell to pay if she took her eye off the ball. He had to remind her of that, somehow.

* * *

><p>The sky above Vale was clear and bright, not a cloud in the sky blocking the view of it or the sun high in the sky. Weekend days like this normally meant large groups of children playing on the various instillations on the playgrounds throughout town. That was the normal way of things at least. On this weekend the playgrounds were filled with children, but none of them seemed active or excited in the least. A number of machine guards and cops roamed the area, and their parents were overprotective in the extreme on the day. None of them could even move beyond a walking pace without someone telling them to slow down. Most just drew figures in the sand or sat on the swings.<p>

"Jeesh is this a graveyard or a playground?" a woman wearing a beautiful blue dress with various stars and moons along it suddenly stormed onto the playground, drawing the attention of the children and parents alike. "I mean no playing, no running around, man boooooring," she shook her head, causing her middle length pink hair to sway a bit.

One by one the kids and parents recognized the woman, their eyes widening.

One of the younger girls walked over and looked up at her. "Excuse me miss, but are you…?"

"Worldwide superstar singer Mila Muse?" she gave a wink toward the young girl. "You bet your button I am."

The girl gave a squee and the kids quickly surrounded her, a flurry of questions and cheers at her appearance ringing up from the crowd.

Mila jumped out of the ground and jumped to the top of the swing sets, pulling a microphone out from her dress and pressing a yellow Dust crystal on its body. "So then kids, who wants to hear a song or two?"

The kids and parents cheered toward the woman, all asking for a song. It wasn't everyday a world loved idol showed up on a playground and offered a show to everyone, so the event wasn't going to be turned down.

"How about something to get your blood pumping?" she raised a finger into the air and music began to come from seemingly nowhere. She brought the microphone to her mouth and gave a smile.

"They see you as small and helpless, they see you as just a child, surprised when they find out that a warrior will soon run wild!" the kids cheered and stood up, bouncing to the rhythm and noise.

The song continued, followed by a few others as Mila continued to draw in a small crowd of people and kids to see her sing. When the final note of the last song played she smiled to the crowd. "Remember just because things seem bad doesn't mean you have to stop smiling or having fun, if you do that than what's the point right?" she hopped down and laughed a bit as the kids went about playing with a new energy about them. Most of the adults stood around and talked, none wanting to approach the superstar.

That is until a clapping noise rang out from behind Mila. She turned to find a man in a white outfit with a blindfold around his eyes and a large wolf next to him. "That was a wonderful concert Mila, one of your best I might say."

Mila froze in place as she saw the person, fingers going to her mouth as shock set about her face. "Ch…Christian?" she ran over and threw her arms around the man and let out a small cheer. "You're alive!"

The man laughed and gave her a gentle pat. "Can't keep a good man down, at least that's what they say right?"

The wolf gave a low growl and Mila shook her head, removing her arms from Christian and leaning down to give it a few pets about its head. "Oh like I wasn't going to say hi to you Fenrir, you greedy little beast."

The wolf let out a happy sound and looked to Christian.

"Go play with the kids, I need to talk to her for a moment and you might get yourself a few pets for it." Christian gave his wolf companion a grin.

Fenrir gave a small sneeze to show how little he thought of the rubs but still bounded over to the children to allow them to pet him and in some cases ride him.

"So then," he turned around and Mila was now pressing the bottom of her microphone against his chest. "Uh…"

"Five years," she said in a rather dangerous tone. "No letters, no calls, no smoke signals, I thought that you were dead," a few tears pricked at her eyes. "Give me one reason I shouldn't use the knife hidden in here to fix that."

"I don't suppose you would believe I was gone for a good reason would you?" he asked, speaking in a rather sad tone with an equally sad smile on his face.

Mila examined him for a moment before lowering the microphone and shaking her head. "You are literally the most impossible person I have ever had to deal with; I thought you Lumien's were supposed to be easy to figure out and bad at subtly."

"And those of Void are supposed to be evil, yet Ash still works as a teacher at Ozpin's little academy." Christian replied with a wry smirk. "It's hard to define someone by their birthright."

Mila rolled her eyes. "Yeah yeah don't remind me, anyway I am guessing there is a reason for you being here, because with you it can't ever be 'oh I have missed you and sorry for disappearing for five years and I still love you please take me back'."

"Time for that later promise," Christian said, becoming more serious. "The Prince is back, the Queen is in action, and the Jack is somehow running around again leading Zealots."

Mila gulped and took a step back. "That can't be possible, after we took down the Church and the King they should have scattered. I mean the Queen being active isn't to surprising, but I thought everyone else was spread out."

"They were, now they are back," Christian sighed and walked away from the playing children and their parents. "Things are going to get darker, and we need to be ready for them."

Mila stayed silent for a few moments. "We already fought this war once, why do we have to do it again?"

"Because happily ever after comes with a price tag Mila, I need your help," Christian turned around and took a deep breath. "I can't do this alone, I need you."

Mila shook her head and looked up to him. "Hold still."

Christian complied, looking down at her. Mila looked at him for a moment before pulling back her arm and punching him right in the nose, knocking Christian flat on his rear. "That was for not telling me you were leaving."

Christian looked up, obviously dazed and with a small trail of blood coming from his nose. "Uh…"

Mila snorted and grabbed his arm, pulling the taller man up. "Of course I am going to help you, but as soon as we have peace you are going to start asking me for forgiveness and beg for me to take you back, got it?"

Christian nodded, obviously still out of it due to the punch. "Right, of course, promise." He nodded.

"So what's next?" she asked.

"Our other teammate is a bit tied up at the moment so we can't reach him, but we have another problem, Ziggler is on the loose again."

"The clown?" Mila asked with a shiver. "Man zombies all around these days."

"He never died in the first place, we need to fix that before the Prince or Queen get a hold of him." Christian whistled and Fenrir came over.

"My weapons are back at the hotel, let me load up and we can get going." Mila started walked away but paused. "Hey Christian?"

"Yes?" he asked.

"I am glad you are back."

* * *

><p>The last show ended and the group of Hunters gathered around in their p.j.'s all gave a cheer before standing up and either mingling or returning to their rooms.<p>

"That was awesome!" Jaune declared a bright smile clear on his face. "When the robot punched the dinosaur?"

"And it exploded?!" Ruby and Jaune both jumped in their air and laughed.

"How did we get talked into this?" Weiss asked Blake.

Blake smirked at Weiss. "You didn't enjoy it?"

"What?" Weiss shook her head and crossed her arms. "Why would I ever like a childish show like that?"

Yang smirked and put her elbows on Weiss's shoulders. "So you mean you weren't crying when Rage Man took a bullet for Vav?"

"What?" Weiss turned bright red and shook her head. "No I would never, I mean who would… err I need to go study!" she made a quick exit from the room, and the group laughed.

"So what did you think?" Jaune asked Emerald.

"It was…different," she said with a small smile. "I have never done something like this before, but it was fun."

Jaune nodded a bit and looked toward the screen as the news came on.

"Reports of a number of mental patients mysteriously disappearing a month ago have been confirmed, sources say that the Ravenloft Asylum…"

The screen turned off as someone picked up the projector and began to carry it off.

"So what are you doing with the rest of the day?" Emerald asked, walking out of the common room.

"I was thinking of attending the extra credit battle class Professor Goodwitch is holding, I need the extra points and I think I might be able to beat some of the other people in my score range," Jaune put on a smile. "Especially with the Aura work we put in yesterday."

Emerald gave a nod. "I might join you, it might be nice to get a brawl in." and it would allow her to do some recon for Cinder, which might earn her some brownie points despite her recent odd behavior.

"Room for two more?" Yang asked as her and Ruby walked toward the two. "I have this new move I want to try out, I call it the double back breaker."

Jaune gulped and took a step back. "Why is it called the double back breaker?"

A dark light sparked in Yang's eyes. "Just wait and see."

On that note the four walked back toward their rooms to get changed and ready for the extra credit assignment.

* * *

><p>An airship flew over miles of forested area filled with four people who were rather silent despite their closed quarters.<p>

"Man I hate these cramped in places!" Nora complained and laid back on the seats, resting her head on Ren's leg. "Are we almost there yet?"

"Nora we are traveling quite a ways out, you have to be patient." Ren tried his best to calm down his partner and friend, but there was only so much his words could do.

For her own part Pyrrha was sharpening her weapon, mind turned back to Beacon and her own partner. She wished that her Scroll would get enough of a signal to reach him, but that dream seemed rather impossible at the moment.

"You sure are an energetic one aye?" the fourth member of their party said with a smirk. He was a rather tall man with dark skin and pale yellow eyes. From under his dark hair a pair of twisted goat like horns made themselves clear. His name was Nathaniel Gruff, a third year teacher at Beacon and one of the stronger teachers there. He carried a pair of large metallic gloves with a number of Dust crystals within it. "We should be there in a matter of moments, once we land expect a fight, an entire mining village doesn't go silent overnight without something scary having taken over."

The three nodded, their minds focused on the mission.

After another few minutes of travel the airship descended, dropping the four off just a short distance from the village. "Keep close and ready, forward march." The four quickly made their way toward the village, and after twenty minutes of silence they were greeted by one of the oddest sights any of them had ever barred witness to.

The entire town had been surrounded by a massive tent that held every color of the rainbow in its stitching. The tent was built to look like a circus big top, something Pyrrha had seen at carnivals she had visited during tournaments.

"The hell?" Professor Gruff grit his teeth and waved the others to move forward. "Stay close, I don't like the looks of this."

They carefully made their way toward the tent and began to circle around it, finding a flap that seemed just big enough for them to get inside. Once they got in they saw a number of Dust torches keeping the light up in the place. However not a single person seemed to be walking around, the streets were empty.

A laugh caused all four to bring up their weapons, and suddenly a man leapt down from one of the small structures and landed in front of them. The man was rather portly, his mid-section like a balloon. His face was covered by a drama mask with a smiling face on it, and he was wearing a rather fetching tux. "Well well well well look what we have here, four little performers coming to take their place on the stage."

"Where are all the people?" Gruff asked, stepping forward with a growl.

"Here and there, learning their place until they can be taken to their new homes in the deep mines." The man chuckled. "People pay good money for free labor."

"A slaver," Ren said with a growl, taking aim at him.

"Bingo!" The fat man clapped and a song began to play throughout the town, a strange melody that didn't seem to have a real beat to it.

Nora's body began to convulse and her weapons dropped from her hands, leaving her standing there with a look of calm on her face.

"Nor…" Ren's moved to cover his ears, but it was already too late. His eyes took on a glassy quality and his arms fell limp at his side.

Pyrrha and Gruff turned to the man, who seemed to be spinning on one of his fast legs. "Such a good song~"

Gruff charged forward but the fat man jumped quickly onto the roof of a building, laughing all the way as Gruff to fell under the spell.

Pyrrha grit her teeth and tried to push the music from her mind, firing a number of shots toward the clown. Each shot hit but were deflected by a sickly green energy surrounding him.

"A fighter hm?" the man raised his hand and the music got louder.

Pyrrha's entire body began to shake as she tried to fight past the sound, but it was obviously a losing battle as her shaky hands finally let her weapons drop, but she continued to stand at the ready.

"Don't worry," the man jumped down from the roof and picked up a cane, pressing it against her stomach. "We have ways to make fighters break." A spark of energy ignited on the end of the cane, sending a surge of energy throughout her body.

A scream rang out through the empty city, and there was silence.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Man that was a tough one. Sorry that there haven't been many updates to my fics but I have been sick as a dog lately and its hard to write while sick. This chapter is shorter then I want, so consider it a half chapter until I put the next out. Leave a review, favorite it, or follow it to show me your support. Send a message if you want to be a Beta reader. Um... right thanks for reading this little passion project of mine. Fighting next chapter, so something to look forward to. <strong>_

_**Also someone has recently asked/challenged me to write a Jaune x Weiss story. So look forward to that. For more by me visit my page and check out my other work. **_

_**I don't own RWBY.**_


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